The lawyer Luis Carlos Battista from FitzGeorge Law issued a direct message to the Cuban regime on Friday following the sanctions from Washington against CUPET: Open the economy to private capital or condemn the people to a never-ending agony.
Battista participated in an interview for CiberCuba a few hours after Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced sanctions against CUPET, the state-owned company that monopolizes the import, refining, and distribution of fuels in Cuba.
The measure, adopted on Thursday under Executive Order 14404 by Donald Trump, blocks the assets and interests of CUPET under U.S. jurisdiction and exposes any foreign company that operates with the oil company to secondary sanctions.
When asked what advice he would give to the regime if he were their advisor, Battista was unequivocal: "I believe that the Cuban economic model has not worked, is not working, and will not work precisely because of economic centralization."
The lawyer pointed out that the solution lies in granting "greater capacity for action to private capital," and indicated CUPET as one of the companies that could be privatized.
However, he did not stop there. Battista also mentioned Cubana de Aviación as another urgent case. "Cubana de Aviación also needs private capital, including participation from other airlines that are willing to invest in Cubana," he stated.
He was explicit about the urgency of the moment. He dismissed the word "ideal" and replaced it with a harsher one: "This would be the critical moment to begin implementing the economic reforms that are being requested, starting no later than January 3rd."
The expert also appealed to the human aspect of the crisis. “How much longer are we going to endure this agony? Especially for the people living in Cuba. It doesn’t affect you and me as much, but it does affect our family that lives in Cuba,” he said, referring to the blackouts of 20, 30, and even 40 hours that Cubans are experiencing in various parts of the country.
His advice to the regime was clear. "If I were an advisor to the Cuban government, I would say: we need to find new ways to expand the private sector, to alleviate the suffering that the population is currently experiencing as a result of U.S. measures and the inefficiency of the Cuban economic system."
And he concluded with a phrase that summarizes his diagnosis: "Undoubtedly, we need to broaden the spectrum of possibilities for investing in Cuba."
Battista's position stands in stark contrast to that of the regime. Díaz-Canel reiterated in 2024 that privatizing state-owned enterprises "was not the way," while Cuba faces one of its worst energy crises in 2026, with circuits experiencing over 45 hours without electricity.
The sanction against CUPET came after it was revealed that the fuel exported from the United States under a general license—exclusively intended for the Cuban private sector via iso-tanks since March 4—was being diverted to state entities, violating the conditions set by the Department of the Treasury and the Bureau of Industry and Security.
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